Salutations.

Welcome to our awkward corner of teh interwebs. If you have any interest whatsoever in music, film, fiction, photography, furniture - whatever - then we should get along just fine. And If you can't behave.. be very, very clever.

celebrating the artfully impractical est 1987

Jan 10

Jan 10 Celestial Hi Roll

We are returned from the land where it is usually Christmas and not very much like winter. The decorations disappeared first thing, into no less than five large bin bags. That’s quite enough of that. Hoovering occurred, as well as dusting and - resolved to curtail my many separate yet occasionally overlapping notebooks and diaries - I spent most of the day putting events into my phone calendar, including but not limited to ‘Put Things In Phone Calendar’. Every Sunday, My Desk, 16:00 - 16:30, Reminded As Fuck.

It does feel real in the way that memories from that period of the child often do

‘Hi Score Girl’ is, naturally a Nitflorx production and there is nothing that I do not like about it. The animation and colours are wonderful and their love for the fighting game - Street Fighter in particular - and the arcade of yesteryear is palpable. Destructoid’s Marcel was absolutely correct in asserting that it’s nothing else if not ‘an affirmation of our profound waste of time’. It does feel real in the way that memories from that period of the child often do and they go deep, with maximum fidelity. It’s about a boy and a girl, has the best soundtrack possible and is, at times...quite adult. And always very Japan? Binge binge binge binge binge.

It is also possible that I am not responsible and that I have been developing someone else’s disposables.

There were far too many spent, black boxes left at the bottom of various bags, on shelves and in pockets at the end of last year. There is a case to be made that these are photos that, all bar one, I have taken. It is also possible that I am not responsible [almost certainly] and that I have been developing someone else’s disposables. That being said, their friends do look remarkably similar to mine. Who is this “person” and what do they want? I have questions. Worryingly enough, there are yet more half finished boxes yet to come and I shall report ASAP in trepidation as to what might be revealed.

I finally downloaded Celeste. There is a case to be made that I did so primarily to put off buying a switch, for this item is available and delicious via Praystantion The Fourth and it is as was foretold. Celeste’s controls are as tight, simple and elegant a system as you have ever seen and the applied gameplay leads to regular wonderment, much swearing and the most complete sense of fulfilment I have wrought from a pixelated demon in decades.

It also helps that the art design, sound and music have my heart by the strings

Naturally, Bassface picked it up and had begun to deploy swift mastery within moments. He is a savant and also a servant of the Dark Lord himself, so you know, there’s that. The little I have seen of her story thus far is very much in the show-don’t-tell school, and that is good. It also helps that the art design, sound and music have my heart by the strings, enough to have resulted in acquisition of at least ten of their available twenty fruits (regardless of a staggering 168 deaths) on that first stretch of the climb.

your mini Madeline runs, jumps, dashes, recovers and warps her way further through the level

I am glad of all of this. Their metaphor for dealing with depression and anxiety runs deep. One particular early encounter of the literal self, expresses this through the game mechanics themselves, as your mini Madeline runs, jumps, dashes, recovers and warps her way further through the level, all the while trying not to let those past selves get in her way. It’s both frustrating and nurturing as hell at the same time. I know I shall venture on, knowing that I’m not alone. No matter how tempted I am to shard the controller at any given point.

Recent Alchemy..

One year ago, we decided to put all of our things in one place, smash them together and see what happened. The result is pretty much what you’re looking at: A little lit, some travel, buckets of vinyl, a liberal sprinkling of film, far too much TV and hella video games.

Today is both a Thursday and also the Advent of Cupid’s Carnal Rites. Aren’t you the luckiest little biscuit? Maybe you don’t care. Perhaps you have someone else who does care and that is both a good and funny thing, fraught with sweat and elbows.

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ is a treat. I was initially confused by the release date as for some reason it appears our American cousins aren’t getting it until The Day Of Love, also known as February 14th. We’ve actually had it here in Drowntown since last Wednesday but no-one really seemed sure as to when we might catch a glimpse of this angelic beast.

It was only natural that I would be drawn like a fuzzy, ill-formed moth to Jim Guthrie’s haunted score for Capybara’s ‘Below’. He worked on the thing for five years. Possibly using a PS1 and MTV Music Maker. I find myself somewhat in awe.

We’re this far into EA’s agreement with Disney and we have only…two distinctly average [at best] games to show for it? My only conclusion is that Disney gives no cares about the games market and is sleeping on a monster trick with a large number of zeros attached to it.